The first reading was about how the author came up with the idea of doing a study on
College Life. It’s interesting to think about the double meanings that constitute good or
bad CA’s. To be a good CA, they have to tell residents what they should not do, but
through their explanations of what not to do they end up giving residents the ability to break
the rules and not get caught. I think that the CA’s do this in part so that the residents will think
of them as people that they can get along with; people who won’t get them into trouble.

I was also interested in how the language of college life has changed so much in 40 years.
Even since 2004, the language of the college dorm has changed significantly, especially
the use of the word “like” in modern college life. Back in 2004, that word was used more
commonly, but now it is considered uneducated to use it excessively when speaking to
others. Not many of my friends know the names of the Dean of Students or the President of
Bloomsburg University. So I was interested when I heard that not many students in the study
knew the names of the people in authority at their university either.